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"He was covered with sand and dirt and then a heavy mound of asphalt, thick asphalt probably eight to 10 inches. As you try to dig someone out, the trench keeps collapsing," said Ipswich Fire Chief Jack Parow.

The worker, a 40-year-old man from North Reading, was lifted from the hole on a backboard just before 2 p.m. He was conscious throughout the ordeal.

"It was very difficult. You are in a confined space. You have to work in that area. The dirt was packed in around him. And he was pinned in there pretty good. It is a very strategic and methodical method of getting him out," said Ipswich Fire Lt. Jeff French.

He was flown to Boston Medical Center. His name has not been released.

"It is believed that his injuries were limited to his right leg, and are neither critical nor in any way life-threatening," his employer, The Congress Companies of Peabody said.

"He was in a lot of pain. His legs were trapped. One was wrapped around a gas main. Definitely lower leg issues, probably a broken leg, a broken angle. He did have a shoulder injury from when the asphalt came down and hit him," Parow said.

Construction crews have been extending water lines down to the Residence at Riverbend, a 75-unit assisted-living complex currently under construction about 200 yards south of the accident scene.

Ipswich Utilities manager Tim Henry said the sewer work was being done by a private company, not the town